# Commercial cleaning walk through checklist: what to measure, ask and photograph

> A commercial cleaning walk through checklist is the list you fill in on site before you bid: cleanable square feet by area, restroom fixture counts, floor types, trash points, consumables, access rules, hazards and what the client is unhappy about today. Photograph every restroom, break room and floor type, then turn the counts into labor hours with production rates. The checklist below is built to print and carry.

Published 2026-10-29, updated 2026-10-30 by Broombook · Run the day to day · 14 min read  
Canonical page: https://broombook.com/guides/commercial-cleaning-walkthrough-checklist

## Key takeaways

- Measure cleanable square feet by area type (office, restroom, hard floor, carpet), not the gross footage on the lease.
- Count restroom fixtures: ISSA’s fixture method prices a restroom at minutes per fixture, so 10 fixtures at 3 minutes is 30 minutes a night.
- Photograph every restroom, break room, entrance and floor type, with permission, and note the worst spots: they decide your first-visit price.
- Ask about access, alarm codes, who supplies paper and soap, and whether you will use the client’s chemicals (then ask for their safety data sheets).
- Write the proposal within 48 hours, and keep the walkthrough notes in the client record so your crew sees the same details on night one.

## What is a commercial cleaning walkthrough?

A commercial cleaning walkthrough is a site visit, usually 30 to 60 minutes, where you walk the building with the facility contact, measure and count what you will clean, photograph it, and ask what the client expects. It is the only honest basis for a bid: a price given without one is a guess that either loses the job or loses money on it.

The walkthrough is not the sales pitch and it is not the proposal. Its job is to collect facts. Our guide to [commercial cleaning contracts](https://broombook.com/guides/commercial-cleaning-contracts) covers where bids come from, the bid sheet and the proposal; this page goes deeper on the visit itself: what to bring, what to measure, what to photograph, what to ask, and a checklist you can print and fill in with a pen.

Three things make a walkthrough useful:

- **The same list every time.** If you measure one building and eyeball the next, your bids drift. A fixed checklist means every bid rests on the same facts.
- **Numbers, not impressions.** “Big office, pretty messy” does not turn into hours. “6,200 cleanable square feet, 3 restrooms with 14 fixtures, carpet in 70% of the floor area” does.
- **The client’s real complaint.** Most buildings looking for a new cleaner have one: dusty vents, sticky break room floors, restrooms that smell by 3 pm. Find it and your proposal writes itself.

## How to prepare for a cleaning walkthrough

Prepare by booking the walkthrough at the time you would actually clean, asking for a floor plan in advance, and packing a measuring tool, the printed checklist and a phone with space for photos. Walking in prepared takes 15 minutes of planning and saves a second visit.

### Book it right

- **Ask for the floor plan or the lease square footage first.** Many offices have a fire evacuation plan on the wall; a photo of it gives you the layout for free.
- **Visit near cleaning time if you can.** A 5 pm visit shows you the real state of the restrooms and break room; a 9 am visit shows you last night’s cleaning.
- **Ask who else will be there.** The person who signs the contract and the person who complains about the cleaning are often different people. You want to meet both.
- **Confirm how long you have.** Say you need 45 minutes for a building this size. People give you the time if you ask for it up front.

### What to bring

- A laser distance measurer (a tape works, a laser is faster in long corridors) and a way to note room dimensions.
- The printed checklist from this page on a clipboard, or the same list in a notes app.
- Your phone with storage free for 40 to 80 photos, and a small flashlight for closets and behind doors.
- Your current certificate of insurance and a one-page company sheet, in case they ask on the spot.
- Shoe covers if you will be entering clinical, lab or food areas.

### Know the task list before you walk in

It helps to carry a mental list of everything a janitor does, so you notice what the building needs. O\*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor’s occupational database, lists the [tasks of janitors and cleaners](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2011.00): restrooms, floors, trash, dusting, glass, supplies and more. Walk through the building with that list in mind and ask yourself, for each task, how much of it is here and how often it will be needed.

## What to measure and count during the walkthrough

Measure cleanable square feet by area type, count every restroom fixture and trash point, and record floor types with their rough share of the floor area. Those three groups of numbers drive almost all of your labor hours.

### Cleanable square feet, by area type

Cleanable square footage is the floor you will actually clean. It leaves out walls, columns, built-in cabinets, mechanical rooms you will never enter and spaces under fixed furniture. In a typical office it is well below the number on the lease, so never bid from the lease. Measure or estimate each area separately, because each cleans at a different speed:

| Area type | What to record | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open office and cubicles | Square feet, number of workstations, desk-top policy (clear desks or not) | Trash and dusting time scale with workstations, not just floor area |
| Private offices and meeting rooms | Count and average size, glass walls (yes/no) | Each closed room adds a door, a bin and often a glass wall to spot clean |
| Restrooms | Count of rooms, and fixtures per room: toilets, urinals, sinks, plus dispensers and mirrors | Restrooms are priced by fixture, and they are where complaints come from |
| Break rooms and kitchens | Count, size, appliances (fridge, microwave, dishwasher), who does the dishes | Daily wipe-downs plus periodic fridge clean-outs you should price separately |
| Lobby, corridors, stairs, elevators | Square feet, number of stairwells and floors, elevator cabs | High-visibility areas that the client judges you on |
| Hard floors | Square feet and type: vinyl (VCT), tile, polished concrete, wood, sealed or not | Mopping speed and periodic work (strip and wax, scrub) depend on the surface |
| Carpet | Square feet, condition, last extraction date | Vacuum time nightly plus extraction a few times a year |
| Glass and doors | Entrance doors, interior glass walls, partition glass | Spot cleaning nightly, full glass on a schedule |
| Trash and recycling | Count of bins and central collection points, dumpster location and distance | Carrying bags to a dumpster across a parking lot is paid time |

### How to measure fast

1. Shoot the longest wall and the longest perpendicular wall of each open area with the laser. Multiply. Subtract obvious non-cleanable blocks.
2. For rows of identical offices, measure one and count the rest.
3. Pace long corridors if you have to: measure your pace once (most adults cover roughly 2 to 2.5 feet per step) and count steps.
4. Round each area to the nearest 50 square feet. Precision beyond that does not change the price.

Count fixtures with the door open, out loud, and write the number before you leave the restroom. It is the number you will forget first.

## What to photograph (with permission)

Photograph every restroom, every break room, each floor type, the entrance, the janitor closet and anything in poor condition. Ask permission first, skip anything with people, screens or papers in frame, and name the photos by room before you forget which is which.

### The shot list

- **Each restroom:** one wide shot from the door, one of the fixtures, one of the floor and grout, one of the dispensers (so you know which refills fit).
- **Each break room:** counters, sink, fridge interior if they open it, floor under the tables.
- **Each floor type:** a close-up with your shoe in frame for scale, plus the worst traffic lane. Edges and corners show how the last cleaner worked.
- **The entrance and lobby:** mats, glass doors, any brass or stainless that needs polishing.
- **The janitor closet:** sink, shelves, what the last company left behind, whether there is room for your equipment.
- **Trash points and the dumpster:** where the bags go and how far it is.
- **Problem areas:** vents, high dusting, stained ceiling tiles, scuffed baseboards, built-up wax. These justify a one-time initial clean.
- **Signage and controls:** the alarm panel location (not the code), light switches that are hard to find, thermostat rules, the fire plan on the wall.

### Why the photos pay

Photos settle three arguments later. They show you the fixture count when you are pricing at your desk. They prove the state of the building on day one if the client later blames you for old damage. And they become the training material your crew sees before the first night: which closet, which dumpster, which doors lock themselves.

## What to ask the facility contact

Ask about scope and frequency, access and security, consumables, hazards and chemicals, and what is wrong today. The contracts guide lists the basic questions for any bid; the ones below are the operational details that change your hours and your risk.

### Scope and frequency

- Which areas are in scope, and which are off limits (server rooms, labs, executive suites, records)?
- How many nights a week, and do any areas need a day porter?
- Are there seasonal changes: a quieter summer, a December shutdown, an annual audit week when nothing may be moved?
- What is in the current contract that they never see done? That gap is your opening.

### Access and security

- Keys, fobs or codes, and who issues them. Is there a sign-in log or a camera policy for vendors?
- What time does the alarm arm, and what happens if your cleaner trips it? Who pays a false-alarm fee?
- Which doors must stay locked while you work, and may cleaners prop the back door for the dumpster run?
- Do they require background checks, badges or uniforms, and do they need proof before the first night?

### Consumables and equipment

- Who supplies toilet paper, towels, soap, liners and sanitizer? If you do, get dispenser brands from your photos and price the refills.
- Is there a janitor closet with a sink and a lockable shelf? Can you leave equipment on site?
- Do they expect you to use their chemicals or their floor machine?

### Hazards and chemicals

If you will use the client’s chemicals, or they store chemicals where your crew works, ask for the safety data sheets. OSHA’s hazard communication standard, [29 CFR 1910.1200](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1910.1200), requires employers to keep safety data sheets readily accessible to employees during each shift and to train them on the hazardous chemicals in their work area when they are first assigned. That duty is yours for your own products and extends to any product your crew is asked to use. Also ask about sharps, biohazard waste, forklifts in warehouses, and any area that needs special footwear or protective equipment.

### What is wrong today

- “What would you change about your current cleaning if you could?” Then be quiet and let them answer.
- “Who complains most, and about what?”
- “When does your current agreement end, and how much notice does it need?”
- “How do you want to hear from us: a logbook in the closet, a text after each visit, a monthly walk together?”

## The printable cleaning walkthrough checklist

Copy this list into a document, print it, and fill one in for every building. The layout follows the order you walk: outside in, public areas first, then restrooms, then back of house.

| Section | Fields to fill in |
| --- | --- |
| 1. Site | Business name, address, building type, floors, contact and role, decision maker, date and time of visit, who walked with you |
| 2. Access | Cleaning window (from / to), key or fob or code, alarm arm time, vendor sign-in, parking and loading, doors that must stay locked, background check or badge requirements |
| 3. Areas and square feet | Open office \_\_\_ sq ft / \_\_\_ workstations; private offices \_\_\_ count; meeting rooms \_\_\_; lobby and corridors \_\_\_ sq ft; stairwells \_\_\_; elevators \_\_\_; warehouse or other \_\_\_ sq ft |
| 4. Restrooms | Per restroom: toilets \_\_\_, urinals \_\_\_, sinks \_\_\_, stalls \_\_\_, dispensers (brand) \_\_\_, floor type \_\_\_, condition 1 to 5, photos taken (yes/no) |
| 5. Break rooms and kitchens | Count \_\_\_, fridge \_\_\_, microwave \_\_\_, dishwasher \_\_\_, who does dishes \_\_\_, floor type \_\_\_, fridge clean-out frequency \_\_\_ |
| 6. Floors | Hard floor \_\_\_ sq ft and type \_\_\_ (sealed? wax?); carpet \_\_\_ sq ft, condition \_\_\_, last extraction \_\_\_; mats count \_\_\_; periodic work wanted (strip and wax, scrub, extraction) \_\_\_ |
| 7. Glass and dusting | Entrance doors \_\_\_, interior glass walls \_\_\_ (approx. sq ft), high dusting (vents, ledges, lights) \_\_\_, blinds \_\_\_ |
| 8. Trash | Desk bins \_\_\_, central bins \_\_\_, recycling streams \_\_\_, dumpster location and distance \_\_\_, liner sizes \_\_\_, pickup days \_\_\_ |
| 9. Consumables | Supplied by client / by us: toilet paper, towels, soap, liners, sanitizer, urinal screens, air fresheners; where stored |
| 10. Closet and equipment | Janitor closet (yes/no), sink, lockable storage, client equipment we may use, client chemicals (SDS received yes/no), power outlets near large floors |
| 11. Hazards | Sharps, biohazard, chemicals on site, forklifts, wet process areas, PPE required, areas off limits |
| 12. Expectations | Current provider and why they are looking, top complaint, must-haves, nice-to-haves, reporting method, contract end date and notice period, insurance limits required, budget hints |
| 13. Photos | Restrooms \_\_\_, break rooms \_\_\_, floors \_\_\_, entrance \_\_\_, closet \_\_\_, trash \_\_\_, problem areas \_\_\_ (count of each, all named by room) |
| 14. Next steps | Proposal due date, who receives it, initial clean needed (yes/no), start date they want, follow-up date |

Keep the completed sheet. When you win the account, it becomes the first page of the site file; when you lose it, it tells you what the building was worth so you can bid again when the contract comes up.

## How to turn the walkthrough numbers into labor hours

Turn the counts into hours with production rates: square feet divided by a rate per hour for floor tasks, fixtures times minutes per fixture for restrooms, and a bundled rate per 1,000 square feet for nightly office work. Add the hours, add drive and setup time, and you have the labor behind your price.

ISSA, the cleaning industry’s trade association, explains the three methods in [How to Calculate Cleaning Times](https://www.issa.com/articles/how-to-calculate-cleaning-times), with examples from its Cleaning Times book: mopping 1,000 cleanable square feet with a flat mop at a rate of 5,355 square feet per hour takes about 11.2 minutes; a bundled light-duty pass (trash, spot wiping, spot dusting, picking up debris) at 3.62 minutes per 1,000 square feet takes 7.24 minutes for 2,000 square feet; and a restroom with 10 fixtures at 3 minutes per fixture takes 30 minutes. Those are the association’s published examples, not promises for your crew: time your own people and replace the rates with yours.

### A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Suppose the checklist for a single-floor office came back like this: 6,000 cleanable square feet, of which 4,200 is carpet and 1,800 is hard floor; 3 restrooms with 14 fixtures in total; 1 break room; 48 desk bins; 5 nights a week.

1. Nightly light-duty pass: 6,000 ÷ 1,000 × 3.62 minutes = about 22 minutes.
2. Vacuum 4,200 square feet of carpet at an assumed 3,000 square feet per hour = 84 minutes.
3. Mop 1,800 square feet of hard floor at 5,355 square feet per hour = about 20 minutes.
4. Restrooms: 14 fixtures × 3 minutes = 42 minutes.
5. Break room wipe-down and floor: an assumed 15 minutes.
6. Setup, closet, trash to dumpster, lock-up: an assumed 20 minutes.

Total: about 203 minutes, or 3.4 labor hours a night. Two cleaners finish in about 1.7 hours. At a loaded labor cost you know from your own payroll, plus supplies, overhead and margin, that becomes a monthly price; the [commercial bid calculator](https://broombook.com/tools/commercial-cleaning-calculator) does that math, and our [commercial cleaning prices](https://broombook.com/guides/commercial-cleaning-prices) guide shows what the result looks like per square foot. The vacuum rate and the setup time above are placeholders: they are the two numbers most likely to be wrong in your first bids, so time them on your first three accounts.

### Price the first visit separately

The photos of problem areas are your evidence for an initial clean at a higher one-time price. Buildings that have been undercleaned for a year do not come up to standard in a routine visit. Quote the catch-up (high dusting, floor scrub, fridge, grout) as its own line, then the recurring price for keeping it there.

## What to do in the 48 hours after the walkthrough

Within 48 hours, turn the sheet into a proposal, send it to the person who asked for it, and book a follow-up. Then file the sheet and photos where your crew will see them, because the walkthrough is also the first night’s briefing.

1. **Same day:** label the photos by room, total the square feet and fixtures, and note anything you forgot to ask. One short email with the two or three questions you missed shows you were paying attention.
2. **Next day:** price it, write the proposal with the client’s top complaint named in the first paragraph, and send it. The [cleaning proposal template](https://broombook.com/tools/cleaning-proposal-template) gives you the structure.
3. **Day two or three:** call to confirm it arrived and ask what questions they have. Then set a reminder for a week later.
4. **When you win:** copy the access rules, closet location, alarm time, consumables list and the client’s pet peeves into the client’s record. In Broombook those live as client and property notes that show up in the crew app for each visit, so the person cleaning on night one reads the same instructions you wrote on the walkthrough. Set the account up as a recurring schedule once and the nights repeat without re-entry.

### Mistakes that cost money

- Using lease square footage instead of cleanable square footage.
- Forgetting to count restroom fixtures, then discovering a second-floor restroom on the first night.
- Not asking who supplies paper and soap, then eating that cost for a year.
- Skipping the dumpster question. A long walk with full bags adds 10 minutes every night.
- Bidding the building in its best state. Visit at the end of the day and photograph the worst of it.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does a commercial cleaning walkthrough take?

Plan 30 minutes for a small office under 5,000 square feet and 45 to 60 minutes for a multi-floor building. Ask for the time up front, and visit near the end of the workday so you see the building in the state you will clean it.

### What should I measure during a cleaning walkthrough?

Cleanable square feet by area type (open office, private offices, corridors, hard floor, carpet), the number of fixtures in each restroom, the number of trash bins and the distance to the dumpster, plus counts of break rooms, entrance doors and glass walls. Those numbers, not the lease footage, drive your labor hours.

### Should I take photos during a walkthrough?

Yes, with permission. Photograph every restroom, break room, floor type, the entrance, the janitor closet and any problem areas. They help you price at your desk, prove the building’s condition on day one and brief your crew before the first night.

### What questions should I ask the client during a walkthrough?

Ask what is in scope and off limits, how many nights a week, how access and the alarm work, who supplies paper and soap, whether you will use their chemicals, what hazards are on site, when the current contract ends, and what they would change about their current cleaning. The last question usually tells you how to win.

### How do I turn walkthrough measurements into a price?

Convert square feet and fixture counts into minutes with production rates (ISSA publishes a method and example rates), add setup and trash time, multiply by your loaded labor cost, then add supplies, overhead and margin. Quote any catch-up work as a separate initial clean.

### Do I need a walkthrough for a small office?

Yes. A small office still has restrooms, a break room and an access routine, and a 20-minute visit is cheaper than a bad monthly price for a year. If the client insists on a quote by phone, give a range and make the final price subject to a walkthrough.

## Sources

- [ISSA: How to Calculate Cleaning Times](https://www.issa.com/articles/how-to-calculate-cleaning-times)
- [eCFR: 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard communication (safety data sheets and training)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-1910.1200)
- [O*NET OnLine: Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (37-2011.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/37-2011.00)

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